Two Aussies held over Phuket shooting

Two Australian men facing charges of attempted murder after a shooting in the Thai resort island of Phuket have been transferred to the main prison pending a court hearing.

John Edward Cohen, 33, from NSW, and Tasmanian Adam Lewis Shea, 26, were detained late on Tuesday after a shooting that left two German tourists injured, one seriously.

Late on Thursday the men were transferred from police holding cells to the main prison in Phuket, where they will stay until Thai prosecutors finalise the case against the men, legal sources told AAP.

Thai police investigations are examining possible links between the men and an Australian outlaw motorcycle gang.

Cohen and Shea were arrested after allegedly pursuing a Danish man who they had a dispute with over the purchase of a $A10,000 bike.

Earlier on Tuesday the men had been expected to appear in court to settle the issue but the Danish man failed to appear. Thai police are now searching for the man.

Local media report Cohen told police the Danish man had sent a group of men to his Phuket residence. Cohen, who runs a tattoo business in Phuket, told police he feared for his safety and had "decided to make a move first".

The shooting occurred after the Danish man was seen leaving a hotel near Patong Beach.

Two German tourists, Johann Baschenegger, 42, and Joseph Woerner, 71, were wounded by stray bullets.

CCTV footage showed the German men racing back into the Baan Pirin Hotel clutching wounds to the arms.

Senior Thai police said the burst of fire in the middle of a tourist area called for "the highest penalties under the law".

The men have yet to make an official plea, which will be presented to the court at the next hearing, expected within 12 days.

Thai police sources said the men's lawyers could lodge a bail application to the court in the interim.

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